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Paige Matthews
"Paige saved us, she brought this family back together" :— Piper talking about Paige. : Paige Matthews is the daughter of Patty Halliwell and Sam Wilder. She was born August 2, 1977. Paige is the most emotional of the four sisters and like Phoebe during the early seasons, she is spunky and sassy. Paige and Piper often did not get along when they first discovered they were sisters, but after Paige helped Piper deal with Prue's death and understand that it was okay to be angry at Prue for leaving them, the two became closer and Piper taught her new sister the basics of being a witch, such as potion making. Paige is married to a mortal cop named Henry Mitchell and she is the mother of Tamora and Kat Mitchell and Henry Junior. Background Paige Matthews was born as the fourth daughter of Patty Halliwell, a good witch who lived in San Francisco. Unlike the first three daughters Patty had with her mortal husband Victor Bennett, Paige was fathered by Patty's guardian angel, a whitelighter named Sam Wilder. Patty initially wanted to keep the baby and raise her along with her three daughters by Victor, Prue, Piper and Phoebe. However, in those days it was not only forbidden, but unthinkable, for a witch and a whitelighter to be romantically involved. By this time, Patty and her mother, Penny, had known for at least two years that Patty's daughters were destined to become the Charmed Ones. Penny feared that the Elders would strip away the girls' powers if they ever found out about Patty and Sam's affair. She convinced Patty and Sam to give the baby up for adoption. Another consideration may have been hiding it from Victor; Patty later implied that Paige had been conceived before her divorce later in 1977. On the day Paige was born, Patty and Sam left the newborn baby to a nun named Sister Agnes at a local church. They left the baby girl with a blanket and asked that her name start with a P, like all women of her immediate family. Penny was the only other person who knew of the baby's existence. Prue, Piper and Phoebe never even knew their mother was pregnant; Patty had passed it off as putting on weight. The girl was named Paige, and adopted by the Matthews family. In her teen years, Paige was rebellious - staying out all night, partying with friends, skipping classes, talking back to her parents. One night, the three of them were in the car driving home, when they were involved in a car crash. Her adopted parents died, but she unknowingly saved herself from that accident by orbing out of the car. Not knowing what happened or how she survived, Paige took it hard and did a huge turn around. She stopped drinking and started to do well in school. After graduating high school, she got into Berkeley due to her high test scores and a powerful essay on the death of her parents. When she finished college, she started working for South Bay Social Services helping the poor, the disabled, and the elderly. A few years later, Paige attempted to track down her real family. She went to the police and learned of the church at which she was left. She checked around and suspected she was related to the Halliwell sisters, but never approached them about it since Patty had died so long ago. In 2000 Paige started to go to Piper's club, P3, and felt that she somehow belonged with the Halliwell sisters. Revelation as a Charmed One One year later, when Prue died, she felt "magically" drawn to the funeral. It turned out that Paige had been drawn there by Piper casting the "To Call a Lost Witch" spell in a last-ditch effort to revive Prue. While giving respect for Prue, Paige talked to Phoebe. They shook hands, giving Phoebe a premonition of Shax (the demon that killed Prue) killing Paige. After the funeral Paige and her boyfriend, Shane, went to a rooftop to make out, and were attacked by Shax. Phoebe and her boyfriend Cole Turner observed the fight and that Paige orbed out to avoid Shax' air blast. Shane was not as lucky and was injured. Phoebe and Cole managed to fend Shax off, allowing Paige to escape. The Elders don't know about Paige, and don't understand why she can orb. Cole does some recon work on his own, and finds out that the Source sent Shax after Paige because he believes that she's somehow related to Prue, Piper and Phoebe--a fourth Charmed One. Piper and Phoebe summon Grams and demand an explanation. Grams is initially reticent with details, having been sworn to secrecy. At that moment, Patty appears and reveals the truth--Paige is indeed Piper and Phoebe's younger half-sister. After checking on her boyfriend at the hospital and speaking to the police, Paige went to the Halliwell manor. She was together with the Book of Shadows and her two sisters for the first time and they became the Charmed Ones once again, which allowed Paige's Wiccan powers to awaken. This reunion was interrupted by Shax, but Piper and Phoebe were able to get Paige to assist them in saying the spell which would vanquish him. Freaked out by what she saw, Paige ran off. The Source's Oracle then suggested that there was another way to permanently shatter the Power of Three--turn Paige evil before she solidified her bond with Piper and Phoebe. A newly minted witch has 48 hours to decide whether to use her powers for good or evil--the so-called Window of Opportunity. To that end, the Source possessed Shane in order to pull her down the path of evil. Paige was approached by Piper and Phoebe, who told her that in all likelihood she was a telekinetic like Prue. Skeptical, Paige tried to move a candle, but couldn't do it by waving her hand or squinting her eyes--the ways Prue usually channeled her power. While saying that she must not be one of them if she could not make a "candle" move, she inadvertendly gestured at it again. To everyone's surprise, the candle disappeared in a swirl of orbs and reappeared in her hand. It turned out that because of her whitelighter half, she could move things by calling for them verbally. She was then approached by a Source-possessed Shane, claiming someone was after him. She left with him, and Piper and Phoebe were unable to track her down. The Source then tempted her to use her powers to kill Jake Grisanti, a man that Paige thought was abusing his son. Abusive parents were one of Paige's pet peeves. The next day, Paige tried to kill Jake by calling for his heart, but Phoebe and Piper were able to stop her. It turned out that Jake was innocent and his wife, Carol, was actually abusing their son. The Source then ran Cole through with a sword, leaving him to die slowly. Leo orbed Paige to the manor, but Paige threw a fit; it was all Leo, Piper and Phoebe could do to calm her down. Just then, the Source arrived. The Source tried to tempt her into evil by taking the forms of those she has helped at work, including the abused boy. However, when the "boy" blasted Phoebe with electricity, Paige flung him aside, sealing her ties to good just as midnight struck. The Source then boasted of killing Cole and tried to kill a police inspecto rwho was spying on the sisters, but the inspector was saved by the healing powers of Leo Wyatt. The sisters and Leo then found Cole and were able to use the combined powers of Leo and Paige to heal him. Paige then reconciled with her sisters, but Shane, having jumbled memories of his possession, left Paige. Phoebe and Piper then took her back to their home and summoned Patty to reunite the long separated mother and daughter. Powers & Abilities Telekinetic Orbing Like Prue, Paige has the power of telekinesis. However, it works differently due to her Whitelighter side; instead of sending an object flying through the air, she can call the name of the object to make itOrb into her hands. For instance, if a demon threw a fireball at her, she would hold out her hand toward it, yell "Fireball!" and be able to orb it away from herself, or even right back at the demon who threw it. This is basically her only active Wiccan power, while the rest of her powers come from her whitelighter side. This power is called "Telekinetic orbing". She can throw a focused object at someone before it reappears. She does not need to be completely accurate with the words she uses, being able to orb away some acidic demon spit with the words "icky stuff". She has also been seen orbing a shuriken away from Phoebe with the words "weapon... thingy!": and can also orb someone to herself; she once orbed a leprechaun to her by yelling "leprechaun". This is the first person ever known in good magic to have this power, as she was the first whitelighter/witch to appear in the series. She has shown signs of power advancement, like when she orbed Excalibur without calling for it to the attic in a season six episode. However, this was one of the only times she did it, when in Limbo (Enter the Demon) her powers were amplified and was also able to do it. When unable to speak (in the episode "Sense and Sense Ability"), Paige was able to telekinetically orb Wyatt to herself as Piper and Phoebe interlocked arms with her and called out, "Wyatt". Also, in the Season Eight episode "Repo Manor" she could orb the dollhouse to the attic without saying anything.It is evident that Paige can now orb people and demons to any location by saying the location, for example, she orbed Phoebe back to the manor by saying, "Home!". Also, in season 8 episode "Hulkus Pocus" she orbed a demon Krychek to Magic School by saying "Magic School!" Another orbing advancement through the years came in her ability to orb things away and seemingly making them disappear, or sending them to some random place she thinks of. Towards the end of season eight, Paige finally orbs demons and people with her powers. The most prominent example is when she orbed a member of the Triad directly into a fireball thrown by a different member, albeit after Piper froze both and the fireball. Also in "Gone With The Witches" Paige uses her power to send a pair of demons flying (similarly to how Prue used to use her power) into the air and throwing them against a dumpster, just by calling Demons! and doing a hand gesture. Telekinetic Orbing is the last power used on the show offensively: in Paige's flash-foward she uses it to vanquish a Darklighter with his own arrow. Orbing Being half-Whitelighter, Paige has been able to orb ever since she was born, but she never knew about it and so never tried. When her parents died in a car accident, she unintentionally orbed out of the car and saved herself. ("A Paige from the Past") The first time she used this power was to evade Shax's Aerokinetic Blast when he tried to kill her on the roof of a building. Paige orbed somewhat differently from other Whitelighters; she turned into a swirl of sparkling orbs that disappeared. When she first found out about this power, she could only orb out and reappear in the same place, allowing her to just dodge attacks. As she begins to practice this power, she becomes able to orb from one place to another and take passengers with her, though she is a little clumsy at first. Her first real use of this power was when the demon Kurzon was about to kill Cole and the Charmed Ones were across town. Paige had only just managed to orb herself downstairs that morning and wasn't sure if she could go across town with two passengers, but tried and managed to orb herself, Phoebe and Piper to the Manor just in time to save the day. It was with this power that she saved herself from death when Cole cast a spell to alter reality, allowing her to arrive in the same reality and reset everything to normal again (Centennial Charmed). The ability to orb can only be gained by being a Whitelighter, having Whitelighter genes, or killing one who has Whitelighter powers and absorbing the magic. This is evidenced when Paige can still orb after the Stillman sisters steal the Charmed Ones powers. Interestingly, Piper has shown herself to be better at using this power than Paige, at least at first. When Piper and Leo switched powers, Piper was able to control her orbing almost immediately after one orb with Paige showed her how unlike Paige who took months to master it. Healing At first, she is only able to heal a being when a whitelighter is touching her hand. This allowed her to tap into that whitelighter's power to heal. By the midfall of Season 8, her boyfriend (now husband) gets shot in the stomach and is about to bleed to death until she develops the power to heal on her own, which she later uses to heal her sisters and her charges. This is a major advancement because for a long time the show explained her inability to heal with being a "half-whitelighter." The reason why Paige triggered her Healing power is her love for Henry, as in Love Hurts, it was shown that love is the trigger and Piper's love for Leo triggered it there when she had the power. When Billie told Piper and Phoebe that Paige could heal on her own they teasingly asked what happened, knowing that Paige must truly love Henry. Other Whitelighter Powers Paige has also displayed sensing, hovering, glamouring and the ability to conjure light (just as Leo did during his wedding to Piper). Paige was first able to use sensing to find Leo when the sisters couldn't find him and has since used it as a Whitelighter. It also apparently allows her to sense her sisters when they call for her like they did for Leo when he was a Whitelighter and Elder. At first her sensing powers seemed to be limited to her sisters and Leo, but in season 7 they grew to the point where she could hear the Elders' call and was then able to take on charges of her own. Paige displayed hovering when under a spell which caused her to hover over the Golden Gate Bridge and meditate. Paige has displayed glamouring since season 5, using it while under a hex and multiple times as a Whitelighter, including to trick demons as part of traps. Shielding In Season Nine Paige's telekinetic orbing advances so that she can now create a protective shield; It was shown for the first time when she protected her sister, Piper and Tyler Michaels from a demon and his pyrokinetic power. It blocked the fiery blasts, and, after the demon stopped, she disactivated the shield and Piper blew him up, allowing the sisters to escape with Tyler. It is similar to that of his nephew, Wyatt Halliwell, allthough hers works slightly different as it consists in bending energy around herself in the form of orbs to block the incomming attack. Paige learns how to use this power on command quickly and uses it to protect herself at will. In 'Unnatural Resources' we see Paige use this power to contain the huge explosion created when the sisters vanquish The Source. Basic Wiccan Powers Due to her being a Charmed One, Paige can write and cast powerful spells as well as makepotions. She did not receive any witch inheritance until the time she met her sisters and reformed the Charmed Ones. She is gifted with the basic witch powers of scrying, potion making and spell casting. She seems to be adept in the art of spellcasting but not as gifted as Phoebe; it took her awhile to master it. Her first self-invented spell was a haiku as Phoebe was under a curse and couldn't create one. It was a vanquishing spell and despite it not adhering to the usual rhyme format, it worked. She has since gotten much better at writing spells. As a new witch, Piper was in charge of tutoring her with the magical arts, history, and science. She was initially uninterested with the basics and wanted to skip it altogether, but when she accidentally switched bodies with Phoebe after randomly mixing a potion, she gets a taste of what her burdens may come if she didn't learn how to use her craft properly, and began to spend more time learning. Although she never practiced cursing, she presumably had this skill in her. Because Prue was always the smartest and the strongest, Paige felt inferior around her other sisters and so tried to make herself as good as Prue was, most notably by using the same spell to conjure doves that she used before. She eventually succeeds and starts feeling confident about her role in the sisterhood. ("Sympathy for the Demon") In the season seven finale, she and Phoebe and Piper learn the ability to astral project; something that Prue had taught Leo. This allowed them to distract Zankou long enough for them to retrieve the Book of Shadows which he had stolen from them. Additionally, she used a spell to change her physical appearance. After meeting her witch-charge, Billie, whom later became the Charmed Ones' protegé, Paige becomes in charge with teaching her the skills and limitations. Much like how she started, Billie was more eager to skipping the basics and details rather than learning it. But after hearing about the Source of All Evil being revived after staying dead for three years, she began to study a little harder. Inactivation of Wiccan Powers It was never explained how or why Paige's witch's powers were inactive before she met Piper and Phoebe. These are a few possible reasons: *Since only three witches were prophesized to become the Charmed Ones, a fourth sister wouldn't have her powers activated until one dies and she is called to be the replacement. This explains why Paige received the power of telekinesis, as it was Prue who had it. It also indicates that if Piper or Phoebe were dead, she would have received one of their powers instead. *Grams bound her powers right after birth like she did with Prue, Piper and Phoebe after the events of That '70s Episode. *Also, Patty said that they would have to be reunited by the book as before. So it could stand to reason that Paige's powers were bound at birth, as Patty, Grams and Sam were the only ones who knew about her birth. Plus, as when Phoebe unlocked their powers, she seemingly unlocked Paige's as well, but it wasn't until she joined them that she was able fully be a witch and use her powers. Professional Life Assistant and Social Worker *''Charmed Again Part 1 - A Witch's Tail, Part 2'' Paige earns a degree in social work and begins a career at the South Bay Social Services as an assistant. She is not an official social worker, but she worked hard in the hope that one day she would become one. However, on the day she was finally promoted, she decided to quit in order to focus more on witchcraft. Though, when she got her first charge, in Sam I Am, she used being a social worker as her cover. In the Season 8 episode, The Lost Picture Show, Paige attempted to get her job as a social worker back, but she was distracted with her father returning in need of her help. Temp Worker *''Valhalley of the Dolls, Part 1 - Spin City'' Paige eventually decided to stop being a full time witch and started taking on temp work. In this capacity she comes across innocents to help in most of her positions. Every job Paige gained throughout her time as a temp worker, lead her to people who needed some sort of assistance, magical or otherwise.In one of her temp jobs, Paige is traumatized when her boss, Larry, is killed by demons. Her sisters try to assure her that they cannot save every innocent, but Paige is convinced that she failed to save someone she was meant to help. At Richard's suggestion, Paige summons Larry's soul. Larry reveals that he made a Faustian Deal with a demon named Zahn – Larry sold his soul to Zahn in exchange for Zahn giving him financial success. Larry insts that Paige return his soul to Zahn so that the demon does not harm his wife, but Paige is determined to save Larry. Because of lack of support from her sisters, Paige turns to Richard who encourages her to follow her instincts. Paige summons Zahn and offers him a deal: in exchange for Paige selling her soul, Zahn will release Larry into his afterlife. Before Zahn can sell Paige's soul, Richard tells Piper and Phoebe what Paige has done and they storm Zahn's auction. Piper manages to destroy Zahn's Faustian contracts which sets all of the souls he had acquired, including Paige's, free, and the sisters vanquish Zahn. Paige, later stopped doing temp jobs when Piper became pregnant again and Phoebe was stripped of her active powers. Headmistress of Magic School Realizing that there is not much excitement in her life and that Magic School was about to be closed, Paige decided to dedicate her time to saving it, as well as teaching the students the values and responsibility of magic. In doing that, the Elders made her the headmistress of Magic School. Since Paige was getting tired of being cooped up in magic school, and Leo was turned human, Piper and Phoebe thought it was a good idea that Leo took over Magic School they then told Paige and she orbed out feeling great. Whitelighter *''Little Box of Horror'' - near future Paige was initially reluctant to embrace her Whitelighter half, even though Piper and Leo thought it was that side of her that made her want to become a social worker at first. Indeed, at least once she exclaimed out of frustration, "I'm not a Whitelighter, I'm a witch!" However, after helping future Whitelighter Melissa, Paige gradually began embracing her Whitelighter side. Soon afterward, she got her first formal charge--who turned out to be her father, Sam. Starting in late season 7, Paige began taking on regular Whitelighter duties. She is given a male witch charge named, Mitchell Haines, who refuses to use magic, and rejects every whitelighter the Elders send him, after the death of his fiancee at the hands of demons. Paige, helps him to realize that being a witch is who he is, and that he should use his magic to stop demons from killing anybody else's loved one. Besides a charge living in New Zealand, Paige guides a future-whitelighter named Joanna, who was being abused by her boyfriend, who turned out to be Zankou and she was killed by him. The death of her charge and friend, made Paige vulnerable, along with her other sisters, allowing Zankou to take the Book of Shadows. Paige and her sisters destroyed Zankou and the nexus. The sisters "glamoured," changing their appearances, names, and lives. Normal people and demons think they are dead. Paige's alias was Josephine "Jo" Bennet and everyone but her loved ones can see her "new look." After several episodes, the Charmed Ones, as well as Leo, reverted back to their former names and lifestyles. Paige has a charge named Billie Jenkins who is a witch with the power of telekinesis and projection (which came later). It was due to her love of Henry that she was able to access her Whitelighter healing power. After the series end, it is shown in flash-forwards that Paige accepts her role as a Whitelighter, aiding many witches and future Whitelighters and pass on everything that she has learned to the next generation. It was also revealed in Imaginary Fiends by future Wyatt who told the sisters that in the future, Paige is the person who has encouraged him to be a Whitelighter just like her and also his father and teach him the ropes.